Apollonius of Tyanna

I guess there has been a lot of talk in some quarters lately about Circles of Delusion. We have the Mormon Circle of Delusion, the Moslem Circle of Delusion, and the Christian Circle of Delusion. Though the Christians are quick to judge the other two, they seem blind to their own. Of those ten questions this one writer wants every Christian to ask I would like to hammer on three of them. One is the notion that Moses never existed and there is no archiological evidence Jews were ever either in Egypt or migrated in the millions around Mt. Sinai. If the Jews never wandered in the Sinai for forty years I guess the next question is "Where did they come from?" As you know I used to own a book called The Secret Passage of the Lion, which says there is a break in the Chronology of first Kings just before Omri and after King Asa. You will note curtessy Gene Scott among other people that there is evidence for a Bet Kumri, which is Assyrian for House of Omri. It's interesting that the Bible speaks of Jeroboam and not Omri so much. But if you're an archiologist Omri assumes much more important. This book says Solomon was actually a much more ancient King reigning around 1500 BC. I say all of this because Abraham is portrayed as going to the King of Salem, even though Jews today believe Jerusalem was conquered by King David 1700 years later in a heroic battle led by Joab. So who are you going to believe? The archologists or what? My second question is the Meracles of Jesus. There seems to be no historic evidence of them outside the Bible. Perhaps this isn't news but I find it interesting. The third is on marriage and divorce. If these Christians are as Calvinistic as they say they are then every time a pastor says "What God hath joined together let no man put assunder" he is taking the Lord's name in vain, because the Lord wasn't in it, because it didn't happen. They got divorced. And the author claims that divorce rates among Christians are no lower than among the heathen. Don't ask me; I'm just reporting it. As to the other assertions on this My Space - slash - You Tube presentation - - of course Christians look like idiots when they try to answer even elementry questions about their God. They will simply claim "By looking like an idiot I am glorifying God". How can you argue with that?

Frankly, typing this posting was the last thing I expected to be doing this Saturday night. I thought I was done blogging for a while, at least till Tuesday when gay pride takes over. But I saw that My Space entry and I just had to investigate. I have absolutely no doubt that those postings are reaching a lot more people than my blogs are, in the same way that I believe a lot more mathematical calculations are being done on computers rather than on slide rules.

Who is Appolonius of Tyanna and why is he important. Back when I was in philosophy class (back when they wrote on stone tablets) we learned that "Apolonian" things were of the intellect and Dianecian things were of the emotion. But also anything Apollonian was related to the Sun and Sun worship, as opposed to the Moon. There are still feminists out there who say that the Apollo project was the organized rape of the Moon. So the name "has a history". Also we know that just prior to Christianity taking over the world there was the Sol Invictus religion, which translates to Invincible Sun, or Unconquered Sun. So now that you know that let's get on to why Apollonius of Tyanna is important. Get your "Glass Onion" L P's out because "Here's another clue for you all". What is the one "Missing Link" in my whole theory about the origen of Christianity? It's been the Apostle Paul. Who was he? Well, here's another PAUL for you all. Appolonius of Tyanna was apparently born in 40 AD and died in 120 AD and as such could be the "Old Man" that Justin the martyr met. Both birth and death dates are highly flexible since this man's life is poorly documented and seems to be one of those men to whom myth makers are attracted. He is mentioned as a possible "antitype" of Jesus Christ. He is said to have ascended into heaven when he died, and performed meracles. Eusubius (if you believe him) claims that Apollonius performed his great meracles with the power of demons. Strangely enough, like Jesus, it's claimed this man visited India. His father died at age twelve and there is a blank in the years of his life, just like Jesus. This man unlike Jesus did not believe you could petetion the Lord with Prayer. (shall I keep repeating it like Jim Morrison?) But like Jesus this man was against animal sacrifices. Sometimes it's interesting to see the things that were NOT changed when the gospels were written down. But more important is where this man lived. He lived right in Asia Minor or western Turkey right where the Apostle Paul did all his minestry. He was born in Capidocia. He was said to be a Pythagarean, whom I know little about, with the exception of the Gnostic notion of "The One". (Yeah, Borgs, too!) It's interesting to note that between his death in AD 120 and the inilation of Palestine, (which was a word invented by the Romans to torment the Jews and should never be used by a Jewish person again) - - between these two events there was a lot of "emotion" where people had feelings they "didn't know what to do with". Psychologically, this is a prime time for mental abberations to occur. (as Ron Hubbard might say) You enter that bubble of delusion where your thoughts run in incurable circular arguments. So you can add this guy's name as an admixture in the Jesus Brew, along with "That Egyption" and "Yeshua" and Philo of Alexandria. And of course there is Mithraism, which goes back to Pursian myths- - notably elements of the Christmas Story.

If you judged The Jesus Story by the same criteria that you judged the story of Santa Clause or Jack and the Bean Stalk, its meaning would be obvious. Sure such stories fill a need in our lives, but they aren't science, archiology,. or history. I promised myself I wouldn't say anything else against Jesus or Christians a while back and I haven't kept my word. OK, give me twenty lashes with a wet noodle! Some have spoken of the Necessity of Now, or the Burden of Now. In like matter I think the Overriding Nature of Reality trumps any promise I made to nobody in particular. I have always said of others "If you break your word because what you promissed was so assenine to begin with people will thank you for breaking your word". That entry said that while it's true that Smart People believe in Christianity- - - the act itself of Believing was not smart, it was very unwise. Sometimes intelligent people will come up with ingenious and inovative ways to preserve their own flawed egos. There were smart people who were loyal members of the Nazi Party, and some of them were brilliant and Hitler counted on that. But believing in an error is not only bad for You; it's bad for the Planet. It's bad for the Species. It celebrates death when we should be celebrating life, and darkness and obscurity when we should be celebrating enlightment and education for all. All of this you should think about. I will.

Intersteller Chatter

And now we turn to letters from our listeners. Mrs. Oglethorp from Appleton, Wisconsin writes that she highly resents the way we have portrayed John Mc Cain and that he did not dump his first wife after returning to America in March of 1073. He did not divorce her till years later in April of 1980 and that there is an anti-nuptual agreement so that he didn't marry her for her money. Also she wants to say that Mc Cain is one of the finest patriotic Americans this land has ever produced and that it's time older Americans were again given a voice in government.

She further goes on to write that Jesus Christ is one of the most historically attested and documented figures in the history of the world, and that the resurrection of Our Lord is one of the most historically documented facts in the world. In fact you don't even have to go to the Bible to show he's divine because there is not one source about Jesus that doesn't also add in that he was divine with the power to perform meracles at will.

Also Mrs. Oglethorp says we just have some genialogical facts wrong. The Detroit Romulans are not half Andromeda but one fourth Andromeda and 3/4 classic Romulan. In fact there is a group that are half Andromedan and they are called "half breeds" but they take it as a term of distinction that they are double the Andromeda mix that the rest of the Detroit Romulans are. She wants to remind me that racial mixes are not always 50 - 50. And that the Atlanta Romulans are part Cassiopian and not pure-breads, and that it's the Cassiopian part that makes White Andromedan's as white as they are. Also the Scorseans are known as the Cortessians and that someone not that long ago began calling them by the wrong name. And the CMK Romulans of Southern California are queer birds to fraternize with the Cortessians because they are part bred with the Reemus race, their mortal enemies.

Mrs. Oglethorp hopes that if this letter is read on the air it is done so in a dignified matter and there are is nothing about the way the letter is presented that would be embarrassing.

P. S. By the way if there really is a Mrs. Oglethorp out there from Appleton, Wistonsin, my profoundest apologies for this posting, that is unless of course you happen to agree with it.

Tim Russart Dies

Some sort of fitting tribute here is called for. As you know Tim Russart, host of Meet the Press since December of 1991 apparently, died today of a sudden heart attack. He was taping promos at NBC studios for next week's program. He went to work just like it was a normal day. He wrote a book called "Me and Russ" or something, about his own father, dedicated to his son, Luke, and as a consequence to this book and the letters from young people he got he wrote a sequel called "The Wisdom of Fathers". Tim was from Buffalo as we all well know. (The Romulans are famous for not liking Buffalo but we'll save that one) He was a "blue collar man". That's the phrase I've heard. Apparently he worked for Daniel Moynahan and Mario Cuomo in the eighties. People say that he "saved" Meet the Press, which was lagging in the ratings. Of course what he was best known for was his tough follow up questioning and playing back statements the politician said. He wouldn't let them get away. At the risk of making some contraversial statement here, if "some liberal" was destined to die around this day by some Cosmic Forces, I'm glad it was Russart and not Obama. In a queer coincidence I learned about Russart's death the same way I learned about Robert Kennedy's. My Mom told me before I even heard it on the media. I imagine there is some astrological link there. Of course there is a small crack in my psyche that wonders whether Russart wasn't poisoned or something by a detracter. Yesterday on Montel they had this wife who murdered two lovers using the same method of slowly feeding them anti-freeze in foods like lime Jell-O, where it wouldn't even be detected because it was sweet. But of course you get violently ill for two whole days like you're gona die from some intestinal ailment- - and finally you have a heart attack and die for real. Of course Russart was a Catholic. I say "of course" but I didn't know that till a few moments ago. Even his opponets like John Mc Cain and his Siamese twin, Lieberman, stated that he was always Fair in his questioning. Of course now perhaps we'd better do a death watch on Dan Rather because I have a funny feeling he'll be next. It's too bad people like Russart can't clone themselves. Meet the Press is just never going to be the same again.

Someone else who will never be the same is the Pope, because Benedict XVI is no John Paul II. He doesn't have that liberal passion to crusade for issues like ending the Iraq War or abolition of the death penalty, etcetra. President Bush met with Pope Benedict today in his "secret garden" where the Pope goes to pray. I imagine divulging what they talked about would be a no - no, but somehow I get the feeling it wasn't the fact that Bush has the most morally depraved Adminestration in American History. I think the President is a man who could stand to "Get Religion" if you catch my drift, but I also have that certain feeling that will never happen.

Apparently John Mc Cain divorced his first wife and married his current wife within a month of being released from Internment Camp. His first wife was a swim suit model (?) but was “disfigured” in an accident and wound up paralyzed. I would imagine the right doesn’t like the way this looks. Mc Cain is against any birth control education. Even though Liberals don't hit below the belt, sometimes they don't hit above the belt either, while they're busy being pummled. If he can call his current wife a "cunt" in public, who knows what he says to her in private? I believe we need a man in the White House who respects women. Hillary Clinton needs to launch a woman's campaign with other big names like Caroline Kennedy and Michelle Obama- - and go out and get the women's vote. Interestingly we haven't heard anything out of Hillary this week. I suppose that concession speech where she talked about herself- - just took too much out of her.

There is still stuff in the news about Michelle Obama using the term “Whitey”, when what she said was “Why did he- - ?” I personally used to use the term "Whitey" all the time in my snail mail writings. I don't see the problem with it. The only thing is if you use that word now it makes you sound rather dated. As my Mom pointed out however, Tim Russart and I are just about the same age. Rush Liambaugh claimed he was going to play a tape of this the next day but of course he couldn’t produce it.

Gasoline in Los Angeles now average $4.54 a gallon and there is one place selling premium right now at $5.09. People remember other gas hikes and even after the crude oil price comes down, gasoline will stay high for weeks or even longer. It's quick to go up and slow to come down, and not to beat a metaphore to death but further increases are "already in the pipeline.

It seems in real estate mortgage loan contracts they are required to use small capitalization in two paragraphs that state the horrible things that can happen to you if you default on this loan. You know, Sylvia Browne was just a year or so ahead of her time last year saying weather stories would be dominating the media news. Cedar Rappids is having a "hundred year flood" but of course they just had that other "hundred year flood" fifteen years ago. This is of course a record tornado season. Of course insurance companies won't even insure you if you're a high risk. After all they aren't in business th give away money. They're in business to get YOUR money. Some people want further food regulations on our food like this tomato scare now. It's a truth that liberals have to face that "The world is a dangerous place". "Stuff" happens, as the saying goes.

COSMIC PSYCHEDELIC MADNESS

There is some Federation news from the past few days. Mal Evans let me know I wasn’t just breathing Moe Sizlack’s exhaust fumes in the summer of 1999 when I learned Brian Jones was still alive on Sirius A and that he got into an argument with Greg. ( Greg is a Denelus IV Romulan) This was after Greg had met the “fake” Brian Jones and gotten into an even worse argument with him. Back in the summer of 1999 I didn't trust myself because my my alcohol consumption. So is Brian Jones the enlightened psychedelic guy portrayed by Mal Evans, or the slothful, washed-up bad attitude has-been portrayed by everyone else. Mal Evans himself has been arguing with other Federation officials about "Too much earth music enphasis and the Andromeda connection". I asked Mal Evans who Greg was for in the NBA finals, and a friend of Greg’s who was present said “Boston, of course”. At the time the Lakers were up twenty and I thought "What a loser!" Mal said Brian was for the Lakers. But Mal assured me “Neither Greg nor Brian has that kind of power [needed] to influence the outcome of the game”. There was also some sort of “news” from the “Skyway group”. I know who they are, associated with Boeing aircraft in Seattle. Apparently they are half “East Romulan” and half “The Houston Group”, which is what we call them although their population in Houston is a small percentage. In case you are wondering, yes these are familiar spirits of Howard Hughes. The Detroit Romulans are half Romulan (Regelus V) and apparently half Andromeda E, where the hippy contingent is either D or F. Also there are tensions between the Aries “Mu” “We are a sovereign state” group, and the “Phil Collins” Cassiopeans over some political alliance. “Mu” is the 13^th. letter in the Sirius A alphabet. The best known groups are Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Genisis, Triumph, and April Wine. There are a lot of minor ones I don’t know. Mal Evans also played me a tape done with vocal and acoustic guitar of “That Was Me”, the Mc Cartney song done all the way back in May of 1988. Also he said the words were scripted by Mark Campbell, assuring me that at least then, Mark was in “the next world”. The singer sound like the guy who made “Pocadot Undies” kind of an imitation Dylan. Yes they "do" abductions, occasionally.

A Clear Choice for Voters in November

I've been reading up on the horrors of this "Enron loophole" bill that President Clinton signed in the year 2000 and let me just say that on the surface I don't see the problem, exactly. Comodities have always traded in future contracts as far as I know, and not present circumstances. They say the price of oil is now 40% too high, and how the price of oil has quintuppled in the eight years of the Bush Adminestration. There has to be more to it than that. What Enron did to us in California seems to have only tangental connection to this Clinton "loophole". That was just bad planning and poor business sense by Gray Davis. It would seem to me that the easiest thing to do to end this round of speculation is for the government tomorrow (or today) to say they are going to pick up where Jimmy Carter left off in 1979 and exaustively explore all alternative forms of energy. And if supplies are as high as people like Thom Hartman say they are then the price should collapse with nothing to sustain it and the ones most punished will be those who speculated the most heavily, just like in the real estate market. According th Hartman, apparently what the government has been doing is granting all sorts of lease or whatever contracts to oil companies to gain controle of the product, but then they refuse to pump the oil from the ground and prefer to sit on it. I would certainly to the extent possible bring anti trust actions against OPEC, and were I the government I would revoke these permits, if possible, and give them to smaller oil companies who will guarentee to pump the oil and sell it at a lower price. Certainly tax laws could be brought to bear or new ones written so that it just no longer paid for oil companies to sit on oil they own rather than to drill it. How about an oil assets tax or something that's really steep? Clearly the problem is not lack of refineries has had been alledged. Apparently the oil companies don't WANT to build new refineries; things are just peachy the way they are, as far as they're concerned. I'm sure there are lots of other laws being violated, though, and perhaps a new laws that need to be written that are both cleaverly and aptly worded and get the job done by sticking it to the oil companies. Of course Democrats have charged that taking business overseas is encouraged by our tax laws. Also John Mc Cain apparently supported Air Bus, some French company, against Boeing Aircraft, a comestic company. What we need is economic policy that puts America first and that includes the awarding of government contracts. Conservatives love to call liberals "Un-American" but from here it seems as if the shoe is clearly on the other foot.

What Obama needs to do in his speeches is spell out all the economic realities to Americans and make them realize that these Neo Cons do not have America's best interests at heart. Of course you realize that is gasoline really reflected the price of oil today it'd be selling above five dollars a gallon. But Obama doesn't need to tell the people that. But for instance the unemployment rate is a lot higher than 5.5%. They said it was 13% for able bodied males between 20 and 55. This is up from 11% in 1998 and 1988 and up from 9% in 1979 and from six percent in 1968. The economy was pretty darned healthy in 1968. All of the people who are under-employed or those discouraged workers no longer even looking for a job should be counted. Of course this bloated labor market keeps wages down because people are afraid they'll be next to be on the unemployment line, so it's kind of economic control of the workers by fear.

In terms of progress on the Impeachment bill, it has been suggested that Nancy Palosi and other congress people don't want to bring the 35 Articles up because of that "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" argument. The reasoning goes that congress is corrupt therefore they don't feel "morally right" about exposing the corruptness of others. The argument is completely idiotic. I don't care if Nancy Palosi is a mass murderer- - I still want her to bring up this impeachment bill before congress. If she has committed any "sins" in the past, then this action will go tword her redemption. More to the point it would seem that we need another spring house cleaning in November. The 2006 purge of congress apparently wasn't thorough enough and we need to get more overtly reformist people in congress next time, to work with our new president, Berock Obama. Mc Cain says he claims to care about people's economic problems. If he's serious about that then he should be humble and say "I don't know anything; please inform me and tell me what I need to do" to his economic advisers. Somehow I get the feeling John Mc Cain is not quite the ignoramus he claims to be with all of those lobbiests hanging around. My fear about this Presidential campaign is that it won't be pursued with enough vigor.

Let me just say a little about the I Phone II, or whatever it's being called 3 G or whatever. It would still seem that businessmen prefer the Blackberry. As far as I've been able to glean, other phones are still cheaper and get the job done better, with more flexability than the I phone. All the new I Phone does is let us know that Apple is not completely stupid. Just to change the subject slightly- - - are IQ tests for our kids really going up now? Have all these electronic gismos they carry with them made them smarter- - or could Sir Isac Newton with a slide rule still blow any of them out of the water? Back in the day, "Logic" and "Rhetoric" used to be taught in our institutions of higher learning. Are people still taking these? You know a lot of these skills are highly applicapable to math and science. I sometimes get the idea that the youth are today are more Drugged out than stimulated by the technology of today. Am I right?

A Warning Shot accross the Bough

This is the 29th. posting of "Karmic Suicide" and I think hexigram no. 29 has to do with boats and "The Abysmal Water". Let me check that out. Well, this is kind of an ordenary day so what am I going to talk about on this Tuesday Afternoon? (It still is in California, but not for long) As you know Paul Mc Cartney may have been razzing the Moody Blues in his line "Tuesday Afternoon is never ending". If you want some free stuff from The World Beyond before we get started with the 35 Articles of Impeachment of George Bush, the Federation now says that all those people who died when Aldeberan IX was blown up by Alcyonne in June of 1967 actually survived in consciousness. I was formerly under the impression that they had been inilated- - like they just "Ceased to Exist". The Federation taggs them as the Birmingham group, and I'm not sure if all the following groups are from Birmingham but here we go- - Traffic, Pink Floyd, Procol Herem, Black Sabbath, and the Moody Blues. It's the Federation that links these groups together- not me.

OK if you listened to Randi Rhodes today you know that last night she listened in rapt attention to CSPN, a station I don't even get, to several hours of Dennis Kasinitch's reading of the 35 Articles of Impeachment of George Bush that he had drafted, and it reportedly took several hours. I downloaded the whole thing onto Adobe Reader, but it took a little time to find because Google seemed reluctant to give me anything in Kassinitch Impeachment or 35 Articles. Perhaps it's because I can't spell. Randy describes herself as being in some altered, hypnotized state, and she says "Normal people just don't watch CSPN. She says sometimes it weird to get information that only You have and can't share with anybody. That's how I feel now with Mark Campbell and Bill Gunderson out of my current reality. You know- - sometimes a Revolution can be a noble thing even if it fails. Take that Bar Kopha guy or whoever that led the rebellion of Judah in 135 AD. You know that revolution failed, but in the words of Jack Nicholson, "Well, I tried- god-damn-it! At least I did that". In point of fact the Jews were able to obtain an independant state for a couple of years or so and even minted their own coins. I point this out because most of what you hear about this Second Jewish Revolt is negative. The leader is spoken of as a "false messiah". But if you look at what he did he was a great organizer, and his followers did everything in their human power such at the revolution should succeed, including the timing of the attack at the most oppertune moment. If you're wondering how this relates to Dennis Kassitinich let me just say that he has the heart of a true revolutionary. And the thing is I'm not sure whether anybody on the left at this point isn't dealing with a stacked deck and a rigged craps table. There are still roomers floating around that George Bush might not even allow the election of 2008 to take place. Many of these 35 articles, perhaps too many, have to do with the Iraq War and the fraud leading up to it. Of course that Poker Deck thing has 54 things that Bush is guilty of and I'd have to cross-reference to see which ones mesh with the other. But the point Randy was trying to make is that the news isn't going to report such a momentus event. The media in a perverse sense really "defines" what is "True" and "Worthy News" and "Relevant" in our society today. It's not just that they slant the news- - -they produce the news like a Broadway Play is produced. It's coriographed with actors and scenery and the whole shabang. It could be said that he who controls our vocabulary controls our thinking, and Thom Hartmann has talked a lot about this in "Cracking the Code". In fact if you go to his web site or to your local book store if you can still find one, you should buy all his books.

One thing I’d like to mention right now is a report from the Iraqi government that says they fear a permanent U S force occupation, and the nation is telling us to get out. Also it is feared by Iran that we plan to use Iraq as a staging area for an invasion. John Mc Cain and George Bush are such idiots they don’t care what the Meliki government thinks. We’ll leave there when we’re good and ready and not one minute before. If some kind of conflict engagement breaks out, hell it isn’t our fault. There is a Star Trek saying "You have manipulated the situation with the skill of a Romulan". This is another way of saying that "incidents" can be fabricated so that the American People almost beg their leaders to lead them into war. As grammar school kids they were shown that film on the Simpsons that makes going to war look like just another very realistic 3D video game. And it only last briefly but then you come home to all the acolades and praise. According to C S Lews, as I have often disparagingly quoted, you go into battle and get blown up by a shell and die instantly and presumably painlessly, and are instantly transported to heaven where you shed your old body, "which is as refreshing as a shower" According to the gospel of Bush, no military presence can be said to "provoke" conflict, if it's Us, because We're Perfect! Why, our forces wouldn't harm a fly! You know, instead of arguing against World War II, Pat Buchannon should be working NOW to put all that propaganda tallent of his into ending THIS war, before it spreads. I thought of opening this posting with something like 'Today here in California- - it's a normal day. You should charish this time in American history- - savor it. Because it may be the last time in a long time you can remember that we are NOT at war with Iran, which will be like jumping from the frying pan into the fire". Hell, at the defence department they're resourseful with propaganda. They can get the American Public to hate just about anybody! One way vocabulary and language creep into our thinking is when a conservative says "Obama wants to surrender the whole Mideast to Al Qaida. The idea of US withdrawal is a congruent cognate to the word "Surrender it all". No matter how good they say our side is doing, it seems the minute we get out the whole area will go to put instantly and Al Qaida and the Shiites will conspire together to take over the whole world or something. I had momentarily forgotten about that all important “17.4” astrological indicator. But I had several months if not a year ago predicted June of 2008 would be a foreign flash point for the Bush Administration and this would cause the republican nominee a lot of trouble in his campaign. It would be easy to just say “Well, it looks like a slam dunk for Obama now”. But of course we are all like Pavlov dogs and the minute we hear the L word, "Liberal" we all salivate on command. Who was that guy Hartman had on today, was it Negroponte? Anyhow he said that an attack of Iran is definitely still on the table. He says it's a logical next move. Even if launching a war during an election year seems like Political Suicide, we know Bush is "not your father's President" so to speak. We know he had the Iraq war rubber stamped in 2002 just before an election. Bush is good at reading the public will. You know “Libre” is the Spanish word for “Free”. Liberalism has as its core the concept of “Liberty” and Freedom and also “Liberate” means “To Free”. I say this because I’ve heard these terms like “Fascism of the left” but such notions aren’t “Liberal”. I noted in entries that they like to include “Free thinkers” with Atheists. “Free Thinking” is still legal, isn’t it?

This last part is typed after dinner (on Sunday). In the hour before dinner I was looking at things like the Gospel of Mark and ‘Papius”, who supposedly came up with the Mark as disciple of Peter theory. This Papius is an obscure man who died in AD 155 at the same time as Polycarp. Irenius refers to him as a “man of old” even though he is only thirty or so years in the past. Eusubius ever the historian, flauts Papius for his belief in the second coming of Christ. I didn’t know that the Bar Koppla war was more costly to the Romans than was the revolt of AD 70. Some parallels to the gospels are noteworthy. There is the phrase “Twelve legions”, which Hadrian sent to battle at Jerusalem. There is the idea of the Jews minting coins with their own inscription, usually melted down from other foreign coins. There is the whole “Star of Jacob” thing or “Son of a Star”. But most noteworthy is the idea of the Abomination of Desolation being set up on the temple site and the idea even now that “The Antichrist” would start off offering to rebuild Jerusalem. Hadrian at first felt sorry for Israel but when the Jews learned he planned to put two idols up, one of himself and one of Jupiter, they revolted. It was a better organized revolt which was coordinated with all the troops. In the AD 70 war, three army factions fought each other for control of the temple mount. It was stated it was only at this time there was a division between traditional Jews and Christian Jews, the latter saying the messiah had already come in Jesus. Also there are many historians who say that Matthew’s gospel really was written before Mark’s. Some have said that Mark’s gospel “contains more distinctly Roman phrasing than Matthew or Luke”.

If I think of anything more to say on this subject I will. You know, Belmont Park could be called a “Champion Breaker”. Here is a jinx that is 31 years and counting. But almost as impressive are the US presidential elections that are “Liberal Breakers”. Only Jimmy Carter could by any stretch of the imagination be called a pure liberal. And it’s popular belief that most Americans despise him. When an insurance company is compiling actuarial tables it assigns the lowest rates to things that virtually never happen. The odds of Obama being “dealt with” by the Powers that Be are high, simply because an election of such a man as President is something that has never happened. “The best indication of future behavior is past behavior”, to quote Doctor Phil.

Jesus Christ seemed to be saying “Can’t we all get along?” today. He said that girl Susie should make allowances for human imperfection in picking a church. My answer to that is if you flush the book of Acts down the toilet you can get rid of all these ideas about divine sovereignty and the leading of the spirit, and the rest. Because nowhere in acts does it mention “How to search for a church”. The very idea is not even admissible. You know of course that St. Paul saw himself as infallible. The people whom Jesus views infallible, and the only ones, are that group of Cardinals at the council of Nicia in the fourth century. Later on he talked about "apologizing for apologetics." He said, “A lot of people burn Christian tracts as fast as they get them”. My response to this is “Just how did the idea of God loving you and having a Wonderful Plan for your Life- - become a notion of Ill-repute?” Jesus also mumbled something about not “pushing back” at the idea of “growth” and how “growth takes time, but we are too impatient”. I'll define "growth" for you. If someone hits you or whips you- - "growth" is the LOSS of the ability or inclination to strike back out of sheer exaustion. Such horses loose races! (Selah)

Knock - Knock! -Here Comes Israel

It's amazing the things you can listen all day to the media and not learn. Do you know WHY the price of oil hiked up so high on Friday, June 6th? It's because Israel threatened to destroy Iran's nuclear capability. The rap now is that Israel plans to coordinate such attack with Washington. Of course this is a "foreign threat" that just might justify my astrologically based prediction of some foreign crisis developing in the world. Personally if I were an oil man I wouldn't be phased by such a statement. After all, Iran insists, and I believe them, that they only intend to use enriched uranium in peaceful nuclear reactors to bring their electric power generating capabilities into the twentieth century. OK, I forget; this is the 21st. Century. Oh well. . . Apparently they believe some strait in the Persian Gulf would be blocked off or something. Well, which one of you nuts has got any guts? Does anyone want to go "short" in oil futures right now? You could make a bundle, or lose even more, if you're wrong. Hey, as far as I'm concerned my astrological prediction has been vindicated, thus increasing the odds that Obama is headed for Trouble, are also increased. If you want my pick on whether Big Brown will win the tripple crown, that's a big thumbs up! But I have absolutely no prognosticative indicators for that.

Some of the arguments against Atheism are things like "You can't prove a negative". Others say that an Agnostic is an atheist who is too cowardly to admit it. Mark Twain alledgedly said that "Faith is belief in things you know 'taint so". Some say "There are no atheists in fox holes". Some say "Atheism is a refutation of all the charished values of Western Civilization". Some say lack of belief in God is "unscientific". Others say that Atheists are incapable of ever having any "meaning to life". Some say atheists are lacking in any morality and hence "A-moral". Others say that atheists have the "personality flaw" of "lacking in Faith". Some deny that an atheist can ever have any mystical or revelitory experiances if they don't believe in God. Some say that atheists have "no hope" in things like an Afterlife. I'm just throwing out ideas I've read from other people. I am not going to take a position on any of these statements.

65% of Americans think that we should teach both creationism and evolution in schools. (CBS) It definitely pays to be a professing Christian.

55% believe that “God created humans in present form.” (CBS)

45% believe that the world is less than 10,000 years old. (Gallup)

37% think that we should teach just creationism in schools, including 60% of evangelical Christians. (CBS)

36% believe in telepathy. The sixth dimension is beyond our present cognition

35% say that evolution is well supported by the evidence. (Gallup)

35% say that evolution is not well supported by the evidence. (Gallup)

25% believe in astrology. Count me among these.

25% think the sun goes around the Earth.

13% think that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife.

Only 13% of Americans accept the standard scientific account of evolution, without a god’s involvement. (CBS)

Facing our National Economic Crisis

First of all I don't care what Hillary Clinton says tomorrow; she has lost all moral right to even be considered for the vice presidential slot on the ticket. If she gets on it will only add fuel to the fire of people like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh who already consider Berock Obama a conservatives worst nightmare. What Obama needs is a move tword stability. Dianne Feinstein would be a better choice, if he wants a woman. I would like Bill Richardson or Dennis Kassinitch myself, but Joe Biden wouldn't be bad. Traditionally the Vice Presidential position is given to a real nobody who has no political future on his own, and no ego. Hillary is simply "over-qualified" for the job and would in every way be incompatable. I also don't like this media bullshitting calling it a "secret meeting" when it's obviously the most hyped meeting in history. In pragmatic terms, I wouldn't want to encourage any potential assassin by putting you know who on the ticket. If there were even a chance of some PMS whacko out there, I wouldn't take it.

But my other question is what the hell Obama is going to stand for. Randi Rhodes points out he hasn't taken any lobbyest money. This is admerable. He's ahead of his time setting high standards hoping that others will follow by example. But people like Sean Hannity say that Obama has no substance. What does he intend to do about the federal budget deficet? What IS the deficet now? Has it topped five hundred billion yet? Just wait! He needs to get over this Santa Clause mentality of offering voters everything from pre school to universal health care if they vote for him. We can't afford any of that. What will he do about the Social Security crisis? What is his remedy for the trade deficet? What does he intend to do to solve our poliferation of guns in the inner city? How does he feel about prison overcrowding? Is prison the best way to handle our drug addiction problem? Is the rest of the nation really as pro homosexual marriage as we seem to be in California? Will Obama be asked about this in the debates? How does Obama feel about prosecuting members of the Bush Adminestration for war crimes and other "high crimes and misdomeanors"? Has he toyed with the idea of a windfall oil profits tax? How does me feel about control of the comunacations media limited to only a handfull of people and conservatives at that? How does he feel about Bible clubs on school campuses? Does Obama intend to nominate judges that wipe out the religious expressions of Christians?

. I listened to Randy Rhodes at noon till she referenced Sean Hannity. You know, many of the things Hannity asserts I can agree with. We don’t need socialized medicine. And the single payer system where the government writes the check but you control the doctor sounds great, but we as a nation can’t afford it. We can’t afford pre kindergarten to Senior in College either. There are times when a young person grows up they have to take responsibility for their own actions, and I am all for that. On the soap opera, John Black took to attacking Lucas, which seemed uncalled for. Max flaked out on the celebration of the Pub going all green. That “certification” only seemed to take a few days from when the idea was first proposed. Max says that guy helping Nick is a total fraud, and I guess he has evidence. John paid a guy big bucks to get some information on Philip’s activities. [last sentence is deleted]

Oil price per barrel prices have risen to $138.05 per barrel. This is a record. Gasoline prices now average $1.35 a gallon, but that’s going up. They say unemployment hasn’t spiked a half percentage like that in twenty years. 5.5% used to be considered recession territory. How can George Bush possibly say he’s doing a good job and have John Mc Cain follow faithfully in his footsteps? Hannity may call Obama a radical but we need some sort of radical solution to the energy crisis now. I don’t get why all the things people said would “kick in” once the price got higher, haven’t seemed to materialize yet. I suppose some are still saying “Well the 1974 prices would be six dollars a gallon in today’s prices”. I’ve heard that. Airlines are cutting back service and cutting back routs and reducing the number of passengers they carry any way they can. The day may be fast approaching when air traffic as we’ve known it for forty or fifty years may be a thing of the past. Personally, I think a good bullet train surface line system is the way to go for a lot of routs. There are the Canadian “oil sands” in Alberta. What became of that? What about ecological coal mining in Montana? What about drilling at ANWAR? What about off shore drilling step ups in production off the gulf and in California? Are we building new refineries? Why is it people say that Hybred cars aren’t that great? Are we serious about instituting a 35 mph car engine in the foreseeable future? Ethanol production isn’t worth the energy to produce it. It seems as if all these other means such as solar and wind power are just shots in the dark and after forty years or so amount to nothing. I don’t have the answer but our government doesn’t seem inclined to do anything about anything. They have this thing in the news about how holding a garage sale is a good way to earn money. The only thing you have accomplished is to accidently sell something that might be worth a lot of money. In case you don’t know, recessions are times to buy and not to sell. Even if you should make a thousand dollars, that won’t cover one month’s mortgage payment. If people are so convinced energy companies are raking in all these obscene profits, why not buy stock in them? You know a recession follows an inflation spurt; it doesn’t precede it. Whatever problems we’re having now with inflation we’re going to pay for in recession statistics later on. And with the coming recession, which is only now just hitting most people, comes a ballooning of the federal deficit. And these democrats have these pipe dreams about expanding free education and universal health care. This is not the time for such wild eyed ideas. We have far more immediate concerns to worry about. The stock market Down Jones Industrial index dropped 340 points today or something. It’s up one day and down the next, as the insiders get rich. You know – the housing situation really isn’t a problem unless you bought a house five or six years ago. If you bought it any other time you have nothing to worry about. The liberals at times do use the fear card. Because “Everybody” isn’t losing their home, only a small percentage are. These people should chalk it up to a learning experience. Liberals speak of “cuts” like in education, when what they mean is a slight reduction in the whopping level of increase these unionists wanted. I don’t know why Swartzenegger is declaring a monetary crisis because I thought the reason why he was put in office was to solve all that. I’m also puzzled by the water crisis considering that we got a normal amount of rain this year but we didn’t last year, and last year there was no crisis. It’s a politician’s job to sort out the problems that are real and those problems that not only can, but should be ignored and allowed to work themselves out. Now they are telling people to rip out the greenery in their yards and put in sage brush and cactus or something a little more “ecologically friendly”, when the Fire Department at other times will tell you to clear brush a hundred feet from your house. Just between you and me if I never saw another fire story or another shooting story or auto chase story this year, it would be too soon.

I have often discussed that we revamp our money system for a five to one dollar consolidation. Just what would our minimum wage be? About $1.85. That’s about what it was in 1968. Let’s see how other prices stack up by 1968 standards. A can of Coke would run twelve to fifteen cents. Movies would be about two dollars. A record album would run you about $3.50. So far so good. But there would be certain “anomalies” that would take some getting used to. For instance back then you would never be charged ten dollars just to set foot inside an amusement park. A “decent” full sized car would run you eight thousand dollars and up. That’s high. Apartment rentals for any decent apartment would run you $250.00 a month. Definitely high. Gasoline would run you about ninety cents per gallon. Way high. Almost any medication? Don’t even ask. And no way back then would you plop down seventy cents for a cup of coffee.

I can’t for the life of me fathom why they don’t put more forward looking stories in the news. For instance, has anybody thought of a way or reorganizing the UN to make it more functional in today’s world? What about these non lethal weapons they could use in riots in stuff like that “ray gun” thing on Sixty Minutes or other forms and stuff? Is the “death lobby” really that strong? What about that Phoenix Mars craft? We know that it is safely on Mars but we don’t know what new discoveries have been made in the past week. When was the last time they had an ethics debate in the news about the quandary of over-population, which is much more of a crisis now than it was forty years ago when the topic was fashionable to discuss? Has anyone even sat down and thought hard about the real economic consequences are of five dollar a gallon gasoline? Like global warming, the consequences of high gas prices have a compounding effect, and each result is in turn a cause for far reaching and even unanticipated ramifications.